Zimbabwe's 2018 General Election To Cost $274m

Zimbabwe's election agency says it needs $274 million to finance the 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections in which incumbent President Robert Mugabe plans to contest even though he's 94 years old.

At the moment, Zimbabwe is suffering severe cash shortages and Mugabe's government is presently struggling to pay its workers on time while many businesses can't fund the imports they need.  

Rita Makarau, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson, told a parliamentary committee today that she was confident the national treasury would make the money available saying 'a consolidated budget requirement has since been submitted to treasury for funding in the sum of $274 million'. 

Mugabe is Africa's oldest leader who has been in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980 and is bidding for another five-year term.